Letter written by a Valley teacher is stirring a heated debate about racism and immigration

The teacher's letter was read during a Senate debate on an immigration bill.

Copyright 2011 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

PHOENIX - A letter from a teacher is the latest bombshell in the state's immigration debate.

It was read on the Senate floor where five illegal immigration bills were defeated Thursday.

Even though the bills failed, the letter lives on stirring debate and prompting one Valley organization to question the judgment of the senator who read it.

It came up during a debate of a bill that would have required schools to check each student’s legal status.

Senator Lori Klein explained many people misinterpreted the bill’s intent.

She said they never wanted to deny anyone an education, but rather get a handle on how many students are in the country illegally so Arizona can tally the cost to educate them.

On Friday night Klein told me they simply thought it is important to understand how much federal and state tax dollars are spent on educating undocumented children,

“Where is it going and who are we educating and I think that's a fair question I get asked by my constituents,” Klein said.

During her floor speech she read a letter from a person identifying himself as a West Valley substitute teacher.

The author’s name is omitted from the letter.

He details events that took place in an 8th grade Glendale classroom with "almost all Hispanic and a couple of black children."

He later writes, “Most of them stated they were in the country illegally, White Americans are racist, and that they came here for a better life.”

READ THE FULL LETTER ON THE LAST PAGE

The author says his wife and children are Hispanic.

He says the students were tearing pages out of textbooks, throwing pencils, generally not prepared for class and speaking Spanish in class.

The author, who addressed the letter to Senate President Russell Pearce, wrote, “I asked the students to stop speaking Spanish in class because it was impolite to speak a language in front of people who may not speak that language. Their response was that Americans better learn Spanish and their customs because they are taking their land back from us.“

Tonight I asked Senator Klein why she read the letter.

“They apparently had little regard for him, they were rude to him and basically engaging in behavior that isn't appropriate in any school," she told me. "It shows how little regard some of these people have for the education they are getting for free from the American taxpayers, that’s why I read the letter.”

But the letter also included this sentence, “I have found that substitute teaching in these areas most of the Hispanic students do not want to be educated but rather be gang members and gangsters.”

It is statements like that which had people calling Bill Straus, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League.

“I’ve gotten e-mails and phone calls throughout the day yes,” Straus told me.

I asked him what people were saying and he replied, “Asking what, if anything, is the Anti-defamation league is going to do. We have a state senator that gets up and reads this hateful pile of trash. I’d be curious to know if there really is a substitute teacher because quite frankly I’ve read a lot of stuff like this.

"Our organization monitors extremist groups, individuals. I’ve seen a lot of things like this, it's not that out of the ordinary. What is out of the ordinary that it gets the credibility of a state senator reading it word for word on the floor of the senate, it’s a disgrace,” Straus said.

Klein stressed that the letter is not her opinion, that she merely was presenting it to show what one teacher says he’s dealing with and that the point of reading it wasn’t to offend but to inform.

“To say that all Hispanics kids don't want to learn is not true,” said Klein. "I was reading that letter verbatim, I did not have time to edit it.”

She added that his letter showed that some of some of the things he is experiencing are, “not an anomaly. According to him it’s endemic in certain areas in Phoenix which is very sad. It should be sad because I know there are a lot of wonderful Hispanic families who treasure their kids and their education.”

Klein also said, “Not one of us on the senate floor is racist or has anything other than the hope that people who are here in this country will appreciate what they are in getting in terms of their education to get ahead in life. Do we want people here legally and go through the legal channels? Absolutely! We think that's the right way to handle it, however we are here in this situation where we are educating people and we want to be able to understand exactly to what level and who we are educating and we want to make sure people are actually getting educated.

"We hope they are appreciating the education because if they were to have a pathway to citizenship, which they are, I mean many of these young boys can

PHOENIX - A letter from a teacher is the latest bombshell in the state's immigration debate.

It was read on the Senate floor where five illegal immigration bills were defeated Thursday.

Even though the bills failed, the letter lives on stirring debate and prompting one Valley organization to question the judgment of the senator who read it.

It came up during a debate of a bill that would have required schools to check each student’s legal status.

Senator Lori Klein explained many people misinterpreted the bill’s intent.

She said they never wanted to deny anyone an education, but rather get a handle on how many students are in the country illegally so Arizona can tally the cost to educate them.

On Friday night Klein told me they simply thought it is important to understand how much federal and state tax dollars are spent on educating undocumented children,

“Where is it going and who are we educating and I think that's a fair question I get asked by my constituents,” Klein said.

During her floor speech she read a letter from a person identifying himself as a West Valley substitute teacher.

The author’s name is omitted from the letter.

He details events that took place in an 8th grade Glendale classroom with "almost all Hispanic and a couple of black children."

He later writes, “Most of them stated they were in the country illegally, White Americans are racist, and that they came here for a better life.”

READ THE FULL LETTER ON THE LAST PAGE

The author says his wife and children are Hispanic.

He says the students were tearing pages out of textbooks, throwing pencils, generally not prepared for class and speaking Spanish in class.

The author, who addressed the letter to Senate President Russell Pearce, wrote, “I asked the students to stop speaking Spanish in class because it was impolite to speak a language in front of people who may not speak that language. Their response was that Americans better learn Spanish and their customs because they are taking their land back from us.“

Tonight I asked Senator Klein why she read the letter.

“They apparently had little regard for him, they were rude to him and basically engaging in behavior that isn't appropriate in any school," she told me. "It shows how little regard some of these people have for the education they are getting for free from the American taxpayers, that’s why I read the letter.”

But the letter also included this sentence, “I have found that substitute teaching in these areas most of the Hispanic students do not want to be educated but rather be gang members and gangsters.”

It is statements like that which had people calling Bill Straus, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League.

“I’ve gotten e-mails and phone calls throughout the day yes,” Straus told me.

I asked him what people were saying and he replied, “Asking what, if anything, is the Anti-defamation league is going to do. We have a state senator that gets up and reads this hateful pile of trash. I’d be curious to know if there really is a substitute teacher because quite frankly I’ve read a lot of stuff like this.

"Our organization monitors extremist groups, individuals. I’ve seen a lot of things like this, it's not that out of the ordinary. What is out of the ordinary that it gets the credibility of a state senator reading it word for word on the floor of the senate, it’s a disgrace,” Straus said.

Klein stressed that the letter is not her opinion, that she merely was presenting it to show what one teacher says he’s dealing with and that the point of reading it wasn’t to offend but to inform.

“To say that all Hispanics kids don't want to learn is not true,” said Klein. "I was reading that letter verbatim, I did not have time to edit it.”

She added that his letter showed that some of some of the things he is experiencing are, “not an anomaly. According to him it’s endemic in certain areas in Phoenix which is very sad. It should be sad because I know there are a lot of wonderful Hispanic families who treasure their kids and their education.”

Klein also said, “Not one of us on the senate floor is racist or has anything other than the hope that people who are here in this country will appreciate what they are in getting in terms of their education to get ahead in life. Do we want people here legally and go through the legal channels? Absolutely! We think that's the right way to handle it, however we are here in this situation where we are educating people and we want to be able to understand exactly to what level and who we are educating and we want to make sure people are actually getting educated.

"We hope they are appreciating the education because if they were to have a pathway to citizenship, which they are, I mean many of these young boys can

Dear Senator Russell Pearce,

I am compelled to write to you about a recent event that
occurred to me. I currently work as a substitute teacher in the
west valley areas of Phoenix, Glendale, and Peoria. I was called
upon to teach history and language arts for 8th grade at a Glendale
public school. The number of students I had in each class ranged
from 28 to 38 children, which were almost all Hispanic and a couple
of Black children. The day started out as usual turning on the
television listening and watching the announcements and saying the
Pledge of Allegiance. During the Pledge of Allegiance I notice the
vast majority of students refusing to stand and say the pledge. I
asked the students why they refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance
and they responded by saying, “we are Mexicans and Americans
stole our land.”

The teacher’s instructions were for the students to read a
few pages and answer the questions regarding Mark Twain in their
history textbook and to finish their final drafts to Senator Steve
Gallardo thanking him for his position on Illegal Immigration
rights. Their teacher apparently had showed them a video with
Senator Steve Gallardo and Lou Dobbs. Most of the students came
unprepared for class not possessing paper and pencil. I provided
the students with paper and pencils only to have them wade-up the
paper and throw it at each other along with their pencils.

The students’ final drafts that I read were basically the
same. Most of them stated they were in the country illegally, White
Americans are racist, and that they came here for a better life. I
asked the class if America adopted Mexico immigration laws would
Americans still be consider racist? That question they could not
answer and called me a racist for asking it. I mentioned that my
wife and children are Hispanic so how could I be racist?

I asked the students to stop speaking Spanish in class because
it was impolite to speak a language in front of people who may not
speak that language. Their response was that Americans better learn
Spanish and their customs because they are taking their land back
from us.

When it came to completing the Mark Twain assignment only 10
students completed it out of all my classes. Most of the students
refused to open the book, tore the pages out of the book, or threw
the textbooks at each other. I thought are these the students we
are trying to educate with taxpayers money. I have found that
substitute teaching in these areas most of the Hispanic students do
not want to be educated but rather be gang members and gangsters.
They hate America and are determined to reclaim this area for
Mexico. If we are able to remove the illegals out of our schools,
the class sizes would be reduced and the students who wanted to
learn would have a better chance to do so and become productive
citizens.

I applaud and support your efforts to stop this invasion into
our state and country. When the citizens of a country are forced to
speak the invaders language, adopt their customs, and forced to
support them, are we not a conquer nation? I do not want to see our
state and nation turned into a third world country. Thank you for
standing up to this invasion. You may contact me by phone, e-mail,
or mail. Thank you, again.

Sincerely,

Copyright 2011 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.